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Unveiling the Allergy-Meniere Connection: Exploring the Impact of Allergen Positivity on Meniere’s Disease Severity

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Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Meniere’s Disease is a rare ear disorder that can cause severe morbidity to the patient and has no definitive treatment to date. Endolymphatic hydrops is the critical event. Though symptomatology is well understood, the exact etiology of Endolymphatic hydrops attack is still unclear. Twenty-five consecutive patients of Meniere’s Disease diagnosed in the Vertigo clinic aged 12 to 70 years were included. Their allergic status was evaluated using a skin prick test. Allergic and non-allergic patients were then identified. Comparison between the two groups was made to identify the effect of allergy on the severity of symptoms using vertigo scales, Functional level scale, Dizziness handicap index, and Pure tone average staging. The prevalence of allergy among Meniere’s Disease patients was 56%. The most common allergen found in our study was tyrophagus(n = 8). Polysensitization was more common(n = 12). Airborne allergens were more common than food allergens. There was no significant relationship between the severity scales and the allergen positivity status (p > 0.05). The prevalence of allergy is more among patients with Meniere’s Disease. The Endolymphatic sac is allergy prone. The occurrence of endolymphatic hydrops may be due to a cross-reaction of allergen-induced IgE antibodies to self-antigen. Management of the specific allergen may help decrease symptomatology in these patients. Allergen-specific therapies have a promising role in the treatment of allergic conditions and provide a long-term symptom-free period in affected individuals. This can be applied in patients with Meniere’s Disease having associated allergic features based on their skin prick test results.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank patients for their participation and kind cooperation.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

    Kirubakaran Kothandaraman, Satyawati Mohindra, Naresh Kumar Panda & Gyana Ranjan Nayak

  2. Department of Audiology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

    Sanjay Munjal

Authors
  1. Kirubakaran Kothandaraman
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  2. Satyawati Mohindra
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  3. Naresh Kumar Panda
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  4. Gyana Ranjan Nayak
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Contributions

KK was involved in formulating an idea, literature search, data collection and analysis, compiling and all stages of Manuscript preparation and final draft, SM was involved in protocols, methodology, manuscript preparation and editing, NKP was involved in designing the study, methodology, drafting the manuscript, GRN was involved in the literature review, data analysis and manuscript preparation, SMu was involved in methodology and data collection.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Satyawati Mohindra.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were by the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Ethical approval was obtained from the institutional ethical committee, PGIMER. (Reference No: NK/6150/MD/127).

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Kothandaraman, K., Mohindra, S., Panda, N.K. et al. Unveiling the Allergy-Meniere Connection: Exploring the Impact of Allergen Positivity on Meniere’s Disease Severity. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 76, 1509–1515 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-023-04337-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-023-04337-5

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